My Better Life
by myriassterre
Summary: 16 years after IWRY, but it had a different, happy BA ending. Riley shows up in Sunnydale looking for a girl. BA and COMPLETE!


My Better Life

By Maddy

**Summary: **16 years after an alternate IWRY.

**Rating: **PG13.

**Spoilers: **General stuff.

**Timeline: **15th March 2016.

**Disclaimer: **Only own the kids, nothing else.

**Distribution: **Take if you want.

**Dedication: **None.

**Feedback: **Always welcome

**Author's Notes: **Doyle died in Hero. Just make it that Riley found out that Buffy was the Slayer before "Hush" and the same with Buffy finding out about The Initiative and Riley's involvement. This is 16 years after an alternate ending to IWRY after that spin into my own dimension. The song is "Angel Of Mine" by Eternal.

I've had this fic in the work for a while, but have only just gotten around to finish it, so that's why it is really different from cannon, 'cause I've been writing this fic from before season 7 finished.

_When I first saw you, I already knew_

_There was something inside of you_

_Something I thought I'd never find_

_Angel of mine_

Angel picked up Lillie from the floor, the 3 year old laughed and waved her arms about in the air. The dark haired girl was the apple in her father's eye. He loved her to pieces. Not the only one though. Mia told them to be quiet, as the blonde was watching her favourite T.V show. And as television is one of the most important things in a 15 year olds life, Angel and Lillie retreated from the lounge room.

Bradley and Damien ran in through the front door, yelling and laughing as they ascended the stairs. My son, Brad, and his friend Damien, who is also Willow and Oz's first born son, both 11. The amount of energy that they have in astonishing, never seem to be able to wear each other out.

"Mom."

I turned to see Aidan pulling on his t-shirt, with the dinosaurs on it. Brad went through the same dinosaur phase when he was 7; it could just be a normal thing. Not sure. "Yes sweetie?"

"When can we start the party?" he whined.

"When it's time for it to start."

"And when's that?"

"In 40 minutes. It's only 12:20. Your party starts at 1 honey."

"Is that in a long time?" he scrunched up his adorable face.

"For you, 5 minutes is a long time."

_I look at you, looking at me_

_Now I know why they say the best things are free_

_Gonna love you till the end of time_

_Angel of mine_

"What are you doing here?" I asked Riley Finn. He smiled.

"The Initiative has closed down, I was wondering if we could talk."

"I'm kinda busy right know."

"Just a few minutes, I swear."

"Okay." I pushed open the door and let him in. The tall blonde glided in. I closed the door and faced him. "You look good."

"Thanks. You look amazing."

"Um...thank you?" Silence fell between us. "Do you want to sit down?"

We sat down in the living room. It was strange, my nearly boyfriend, before Angel turned human of course. When Angel turned human on Thanksgiving, we were reunited and Riley left for South America just days after, I never got to tell him about Angel and I. This is going to be interesting.

"It's lucky that you still live here, I looked for a Buffy Summers and there was no listing of one."

"I don't live here." At Riley's confused look I went on, "Dawn does, with her husband, Joshua and twin daughters, Annie and Audrey."

"Wow. Dawn, a mother, I still picture her as the annoying 13 year old." He laughed. I did also.

"Yeah, they're beautiful girls."

"How old are they?"

"1 year. Born November 20th the year before last."

"I would love to meet them."

"Buffy!" yelled Dawn coming into the room. "Riley?" she halted upon seeing him. "What are you doing here?"

"Just dropped by." He looked over her over, "you have grown up, that's for sure."

"I'm 28. Big girl now."

"And a mother and wife, congratulations."

"Thank you. Buffy," I looked up at her. "That was Mia on the phone."

"Okay, well we better get going." I rose to my feet, as did Riley.

"Where are you going? Who's Mia?"

"Mia is my 15 year old daughter." Riley's eyes bulged and his mouth hung open. "And we have to go the my house for my son Aidan's 7th birthday party. To which you are invited."

"You have two children?"

"We'll talk in the car."

_What you mean to me you'll never know_

_Deep inside I need to show_

_You came into my life sent from above_

_Better than a dream, such a perfect love_

_And I'll adore you till the end of time_

_Angel of mine_

"Okay let my get this straight, you got back together with your ex on Thanksgiving, the day Mia was conceived. Were married in March. You also have a son Bradley, he's 11. Another son Aidan, whose party we are going to right now, which is at your mansion on Crawford Street. You also have a 3-year-old daughter Lillie. Is that it?"

I laughed at his perplexed expression. "Yes, we also have a dog, 2 birds and a whole bunch of fish. Oh! We bought a turtle for Aidan."

"You have had a busy life."

"I love it. I'm married to the love of my life, I have four wonderful children and the Hellmouth has been closed forever, has been for the past 13 years. It's quite peaceful, aside from the demon and vamp population, which has diminished by more than half. Our lives, all our lives have become much more quiet and less life threatening."

"What about everyone else? Willow, Xander and Giles?"

"Oz came back and he and Willow have two children, Damien, 11 and Amber 5. Xander married an old flame Cordelia, they have a 12-year-old daughter, Amea, and Matthew, and he's 10. Anya became a vengeance demon again, years and years ago. We haven't seen her since. Giles left for England after we closed the Hellmouth, married a really nice lady Elizabeth, who is like 15 years younger then him, but anyway they have a son William 7 and a daughter Margaret and she's 4."

"This is amazing. So much has changed; then again it has been 16 years. So who is this husband of yours?"

"Meet him for yourself." Spoke up Dawn. The car had stopped. We were in the driveway of my home. The backdoor opened.

"Mom, hurry up. Dan's completely wigging." Said Mia. "And who are you?" she asked Riley, who was sitting beside me in the backseat. I shot her a look.

"This is Riley. I...he was my Psyche TA in my freshman year. Now say hello." I instructed the glaring teen.

"Hello. Dad!" she screeched. I winced and slid out of the car, followed by Riley. Angel was walking toward the car. I smiled, he smiled back. When he reached me I slid my arms around his neck, his arms around my waist.

"Hello handsome." I kissed him on the lips.

"Hello beautiful." I got a kiss on the forehead. "Stop making faces Mia."

I choked back a giggle. Angel half-smiled. Still after all these years, that smile still makes my heart jump a beat. "Angel, meet Riley." I whispered to him.

"Your boyfriend?"

"Possibly, potential boyfriend." I corrected. "Never dated him, never even kissed him."

"And now he's here, why?"

"Not to sure." I confessed. That's a good point. Why was he here? Was it because he was just passing through? Did he intend to move back here? Or was there some other reason? Now I'm worried. He's ruining my day. It's my son's birthday for Pete's sake! Why did he show up now?! Calm down, Buffy. He didn't know that it was Aidan's birthday. Or did he?

"Buffy." Said Riley at our side. Go away. Instead I stepped out of Angel's arms, but he grasped my hand, I squeezed it tight.

"Angel, this is Riley Finn. Riley, this is Angel, my husband." Angel, with his free hand shook Riley's own.

"Nice to meet you." Said Riley.

"Likewise."

_Ooh, angel, yeah mmm_

"_Happy Birthday to you. Happy Birthday to you. Happy birthday dear Aidan. Happy Birthday to you. Hip, hip hooray. Hip, hip hooray. Hip, hip hooray."_

"Blow out the candles, sweetie." I told my beaming son. He complied. All out in one go. Cheering ran through the spectators.

"What did you wish for?" asked Angel, whose arms were around my waist.

"I can't tell you Dad, or it won't come true." Said the now 7 year old.

"I told your father all my wishes, most of them came true."

"So?" said Mia. "Your wishes were to get married, live in a house together and have a bunch of kids, close the Hellmouth and live happily ever after. Everybody knew, mom."

"At least her wishes were not stupid enough to never come true." Snapped Bradley. "What's yours? To marry Justin Timberlake?"

"He's still good looking." Said Mia, defending her choice in men.

"But he's already married!"

"What has that got to do with anything?" I watched as the 15 and 11 year olds started yelling and screaming at each other. With one stern look from their father they shut up and quietly ate their chocolate cake. I smiled, Willow laughed. While Riley only looked confused as he sat at the picnic table out in the back yard.

"How did he do that?"

"Angel only ever makes that face," I explained. "When he threatens to take away the one thing they love."

"And what's that?"

"Their weapons."

"They have weapons?!"

"Sure. But only Mia and Brad. They are both really strong like Angel and I-"

"Angel's strong too?"

"Yeah. He's an ex-vampire." I watched amused as Riley's face paled and contorted into shock. This is going to be a long story.

_Nothing means more to me than all we share_

_No one in this whole world can ever compare_

_Last night awake your move is still on my mind_

_Angel, angel of mine_

Riley was very wary of Angel even though he was now human and had been for 16 years. It might have had something to do with the fact that Angel could easily kick his ass. After my story of mine and Angel's saga. Up until Thanksgiving, the Mohra demon, the Oracles, Angel asking for his strength back so as to protect me and continue with his saving souls destiny. Riley's eyes grew bigger with each new and exciting fact. He still doesn't have a grasp for the supernatural world, even after over 16 years as a demon hunter for the government.

"Are you still in the army?" I asked sipping my coke; I still don't like beer all that much.

"Yeah. But I'm more or less retired from the Initiative."

"And there hasn't been one of those for about 16 years now."

"Thanks to you I suppose." Said Riley with a wry smile.

"Yeah. Big explosion. You shoulda been." Then there was a CRASH!! Great. I whirled round and saw a huge demon standing in the now broken French doors. The large and very ugly monster stood at least 7 feet tall, had big bulky muscles and looked like some sea creature. "It's my son's birthday." I complained. "You'd think they'd give me some peace and quiet every now and then."

"Demons aren't known for their nice warm feelings towards humans, Buffy."

"I know. But he must be one of the dumb ones. Hey Buddy!" I yelled as the demon walked over to me, standing 15 feet from the French doors' broken frame and glass. "You so came to the wrong house. I'm a Slayer, the other one is right behind you." I said looking around the demon and saw Faith standing there in all her punk glory...with Angel. "And there's Angel too. You know who he is right?"

"And there's me." Said Riley Finn, ex-army guy. He stood beside me, slightly in front of me.

"Time to say goodnight."

_What you mean to me you'll never know_

_Deep inside I need to show_

_You came into my life (my life) sent from above_

_Better than a dream such a perfect love_

_And I'll adore you till the end of time_

_Angel, angel of mine_

I placed the icepack against Riley's ever growing lump on his head. "Thanks. Man he was tough to kill." He placed his own hand on the pack, I withdrew mine.

"It was more bulky then your usual demon." Agreed Faith, rubbing her ribs. "Bloody prick. I'm gonna have bruises."

"And you won't be able to wear those half of a t-shirts you're so fond of." I said to her as Angel checked the cut on my back. "That's a shame."

"You're okay." Whispered Angel, kissing my neck.

"That's a relief." I sighed turning round to face him, he smirked. I slid my hands up to his neck and pulled him down to me. Warm lips touched my own, the kiss had a real promise of being really good, but...

"Yuck. They always get like this after a fight or patrol. Get this...every night they comb the cemeteries or other vamp hangouts...they come back home and are at it all night. I don't think there is a single person in the world who has been more traumatized then me." Said Mia with a certain voice of Cordelia Chase going through her. I don't want my daughter to turn into a follower...or leader of the bitchy/popular/stuck up crowd.

"You know you're lucky to have parents who love each other so much." Said Riley from underneath the icepack. I decided to return my attentions back to my spunky husband. Who is very spunky indeed.

"We should go outside." I breathed after parting from a kiss-a-thon. My lips tingled. Angel's forehead pressed against mine. Mumbling things in some other language. "I love you..."

"I love you..."

"Outside...where there...are...people." Said Mia standing beside us. "So as to remind you that you can't go at it during your son's birthday."

"Fine. We're gone."

_Ooh, angel, ooooh, angel_

My perfect life, the life that gets better everyday. I have to owe it to Angel; he's made me so incredibly happy I don't know how to put in into words or thought. "Mom!" yelled Aidan, walking toward me with his small turtle in his hands. "He peed on me!" I laughed and held out a serviette.

"Here you go, sweetie"

"Thank you."

"You're a great mother, Buffy." Said Riley.

"Thank you, that means a lot."

"It sure has been a weird day, I came here to see you again, but not to see if you were available-"

"No, of course not, never thought that for a second." I grinned at him. He kinda smiled back, but he seemed nervous for some reason.

"Truthfully, I didn't know if you'd still be alive. I researched a bit more about Slayers, and none of them lived past 27, but Buffy, you're 35-"

"Ugh, don't remind me."

"You're ancient for a Slayer, sorry, but I didn't think you'd be alive, but you are and that's wonderful. I was half excepting to visit your grave."

"I should be offended, but strangely enough, I'm not. Riley, if I did die, it wouldn't matter, there would be no new Slayer till Faith dies." At Riley's confused look, I realised that he didn't know who Faith was. "She was the girl who helped us fight the demon, I drowned when I was 16, but I was revived, and that activated Kendra, but when Kendra died, Faith became a Slayer, she went evil for a while, but now she lives here in Sunnydale."

"Wow."

"Yeah, we get a lot of 'wow,'" I looked around the large backyard. "But, it's never been so wonderful to be alive." I looked back at Riley, "so are you married, involved with someone, have you fathered any children?"

"I'm married to a wonderful woman, her name's Sam. We met in the army in South America, we have two kids, but they are back in Florida doing normal life stuff. I've just been on a tour of duty, and thought of swinging by before I went home."

"That's great, Riley. I'm glad you found someone to spend the rest of your life with."

"You found someone too."

"Oh, I found him a long time ago."

_I never knew I could feel each moment, as if it were new_

_Every breath I take, or vow that I make_

_I wanna share it with you_

_You came into my life, sent from above_

_(Up above baby, baby, baby)_

_Better than a dream of such perfect love (a perfect love)_

_And I'll adore you till the end of time_

_Angel of mine_

Later that night, I walked into my bedroom and saw Angel standing by the window looking out onto the street. "What you looking at?"

"Nothing, or at least I hope it's nothing."

"Still a bit edgy, I see."

"They don't normally attack when we're at home. Over the years, they've learnt that to do that would be suicide, so why did they do it today?"

"He might have been new in town.

"Buffy, this is serious." He said turning to face me, my breath caught in my throat. The moonlight was cast on his handsome face and made him look... "We have to be on our guard all the time, we've been slacking off and you know it."

"So what if we have, I'm still the oldest Slayer in history and I will die old and gray, but you're going to die from stress. Our lives will never be simple, but that doesn't mean we have to stock up on the weapons and go on killing sprees to make sure that they leave us alone. Because they never will, Angel, they'll never leave us alone."

"I know, it's just hard sometimes." His expression brightened, "do you think the others would care if we ran away?"

"Ran away where?"

"I don't know, anywhere."

I smiled sadly, "I think they'd care, and I don't think that'd make the demons stop coming after us."

"It sucks."

"It really does, but only sometimes."

"The rest of the time, it's wonderful."

"More than just wonderful." I gave him a sweet kiss on the lips.

"So, what did Riley want?"

"Just to see if I was alive."

"Okay...you see, you two wouldn't have worked even if I didn't become human."

"Because I still loved you?"

"No, because he's weird."

I laughed, "He's not – okay he is a bit weird, but that's not why we wouldn't have worked. I still loved you and could never love him and that's why it would have never worked."

"I love you, Buffy."

"I love you, too...my Angel."

_I look at you, looking at me_

_Now I know why they say the best things are free_

_Gonna love you till the end of time_

_Angel of mine_

The End.


End file.
